QUICK NEWS, 3-25: TRIBAL LANDS HAVE SUN, WIND; OHIO APPROVES ITS FIRST WIND; NAT GAS AFOUL OF THE LAW; SUN MUST DO THE RIGHT THING RIGHT

TRIBAL LANDS HAVE SUN, WIND
Report: Tribes key in renewable energy development
Felicia Fonseca, March 23, 2010 (AP)

"…[American Indian tribal] lands make up about 5 percent of the United States and hold an estimated 10 percent of the country's renewable resources. Projects to harness the sun's energy, particularly in the Southwest, and to use wind power in the Great Plains and Alaska's coastal Native villages are the most promising, [The New Energy Future in Indian Country] by the National Wildlife Federation said.

"But funding the projects and moving the power through transmission lines across reservations and onto the grid can be difficult. Among the recommendations in the report — some of which are being lobbied for in Congress — is to provide tribes with the same access to financial and technical resources that state and local governments have."

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"Tribal governments can be wary of state incentives for renewable energy development, which vary from state to state and require that tribes create a state-chartered organization to be eligible…Doing so means tribes relinquish sovereign immunity and subject themselves to state law and reporting requirements.

"Tribes, as tax-exempt entities, also do not benefit from a federal production tax credit for renewable energy projects. However, legislation pending in Congress would allow tribes to transfer their share of the tax credit to private entities financing projects in a joint venture…Tribes also must consider whether to assess taxes on projects by non-tribal investors, which the state also would tax, and which could drive away the investors…The more than 560 federally recognized tribes can apply for grants through the U.S. Department of Energy's Tribal Energy Program, but the funding is scarce — about $5 million a year. A 2005 federal law authorized up to $20 million a year for the program, but it has no specific appropriations…Of the 93 projects the program funded from 2002-2008, most have been for feasibility studies. Large-scale projects typically are possible only if they're close to transmission lines, which the report noted often skirt tribal lands and can cost $10,000 or more per mile…"

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"Tribal lands have the potential to produce 17.6 trillion kilowatt hours of electricity a year from solar power, about 4.5 times the total amount of electricity generated in the U.S. in 2004. The lands also are capable of producing an estimated 535 billion kilowatt hours of electricity per year from wind power.

"The Campo Kumeyaay Nation outside San Diego hosts the only wind farm on tribal land…It plans to invest $60 million in a second one, securing 20 percent ownership. The tribe will acquire full ownership of both wind farms after 25 years of operation…[T]he tribe signed on as a lessee on the first wind farm to gain experience…[and in return] got…a substation and transmission lines…Ownership was a nonnegotiable aspect of the second project…Financing, some of which would come through bonding authority, is the next hurdle…"


OHIO APPROVES ITS FIRST WIND
Champaign County wind farm gets OK from Ohio
March 23, 2010 (Dayton Business Journal)

"…[Ohio] energy regulators have given clearance to a wind farm planned for Champaign County, the first to receive a construction license from [the state]."

"The Ohio Power Siting Board…modified and approved plans for a 54-turbine Buckeye Wind Project wind farm about 40 miles northeast of Dayton. The project is being developed by New York-based EverPower Renewables Inc."

Dayton is a long way from Ohio's greatest winds on Lake Erie but... (click to enlarge)

"EverPower originally applied to build a wind farm with 70 turbines with a price tag of about $380 million, but the board – the rule-making body for wind-powered projects in the state – rejected plans for 14 of them because of concerns they could be hazardous to aviation routes. Several civic and municipal groups had rallied on both sides of the proposal, opponents expressing worries about noise and shadow flicker and proponents stressing the project’s environmental benefits."

...Dayton is where Ohio's wind industry is. (click to enlarge)

"The Siting Board…required the company set up an informal process to field public complaints, all of which will be routed to the state. EverPower also is on the hook for damage to land and roads. Plans call for having the farm up and running by the end of next year with construction set to begin in late 2010.

"The Champaign County wind farm project was the first to officially seek approval from the state following the passage of comprehensive energy legislation that requires at least 25 percent of all electricity sold in Ohio to come from alternative sources by 2025, with at least half to be generated by renewables such as wind, solar, hydropower, biomass and geothermal. A separate bill put the Power Siting Board in charge of setting up rules for construction, operation and maintenance of wind-powered facilities."


NAT GAS AFOUL OF THE LAW
Oilfield Company Failed to Report Fracking Violations to EPA – Documents
Mike Soraghan, March 23, 2010 (NY Times)

"One of the world's largest oilfield services companies continued to tell U.S. EPA it was complying with an agreement barring the injection of diesel fuel near drinking-water aquifers, documents show, after admitting to Congress that it had violated the pact.

"BJ Services Co. acknowledged in January 2008 to investigators from the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee that it had violated a 2003 agreement not to use diesel in specific types of hydraulic fracturing. When that was disclosed last month, a BJ Services executive said that the company had "self reported" the violation to EPA…But EPA says the company never told agency officials. And documents show the company has twice since then told the environmental agency that it has always been in compliance with the agreement…A BJ Services executive stressed that the violation was a breach of company policy and that the company has found ways to eliminate diesel from its fracturing fluids…"

Diesel isn't the only problem. (click to enlarge)

"The discrepancy has arisen as the credibility of industry and regulators becomes key to a debate about how to regulate the technique, which is common in the industry but worrisome to some who live near drilling operations and draw their water from underground…Democrats in [Congress] have proposed federal regulation of fracturing and the powerful House Energy and Commerce Committee has launched an investigation…

"Hydraulic fracturing blasts truckloads of water, along with sand, chemicals and sometimes diesel or other toxic substances deep into a wellbore to break compact rock and release gas trapped inside. Though the industry has used the process for decades, questions about drinking water contamination have mounted in the past few years as the process has opened up vast reserves in shale formations in new areas [where fracturing is essential], such as Texas and New York…EPA [recently] announced the beginning of a congressionally ordered study of how fracturing affects drinking water…"

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"The agreement not to use diesel was aimed at calming fears about groundwater contamination when [Congressional Republicans] decided to exempt fracturing from federal drinking water laws in [2005] energy legislation…in response to industry requests to head off potential federal regulation and leave oversight to the states…Democrats consistently protested that the exemption would allow oil companies to inject diesel into drinking water. So in the final version of the bill [signed by Halliburton, BJ Services and Schlumberger, which then did nearly all U.S. fracturing work], fracturing was exempted from the Safe Drinking Water Act unless diesel was used…

"After the agreement…[each company] indicated they were complying…After Democrats took control of Congress, the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee [chaired by Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.), the Democrats' most dogged investigator and now chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee] started…questioning companies…BJ Services acknowledged…it had injected diesel in violation of the agreement… [and] Halliburton Co. reported using fluids containing diesel fuel from 2005 to 2007 to fracture oil and gas wells in 15 states…[This] could be a violation of the Safe Drinking Water Act…[though the] agreement covers only fracturing in coalbed methane wells in underground sources of drinking water…It is not clear what EPA has done since announcement of the two companies' disclosures…There is no enforcement or penalty for violating the agreement, but the Safe Drinking Water Act does have [monetary] penalties…"


SUN MUST DO THE RIGHT THING RIGHT
Solar’s Dirty Little Secret; The Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition’s new report ranks solar manufacturers on environmental health and safety
Eric Wesoff, March 23, 2010 (Greentech Media)

"...[S]olar panels can have their dirty side in terms of disposal and manufacturing. And what happens to the millions of solar panels planted in solar farms and installed on roofs once they've reached the end of their useful life in 20 or 25 years?

"…[There was an outcry] when the Washington Post reported on the alleged dumping of silicon tetrachloride, a toxic byproduct of polysilicon production on farmland in China. Lax environmental enforcement and the drive to save money on expensive recycling and treatment drove the polysilicon supplier to this irresponsible act…The Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition (SVTC) has called on the solar industry to adopt environmentally friendly measures for manufacturing and disposing of solar panels. Sheila Davis, executive director of the non-profit SVTC, believes that solar companies should start investing in recycling efforts now rather than waiting for their products to clog up landfills before taking action…"

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"To encourage solar manufacturers to do the right thing, SVTC just released its 2010 Solar Company Scorecard, which ranks manufacturers of PV modules according to environmental health and safety, sustainability, workers’ rights, and social justice. The responding companies self-reported on these areas and the results can serve as a resource for institutional purchasers, investors and consumers…

"Fourteen companies representing 24 percent of the 2008 module market share and 31 percent of the cumulative market share responded to the inquiry. The top three scores were earned by German manufacturers Calyxo, SolarWorld and Sovello, which scored 90, 88 and 73 respectively…Two U.S.-based cadmium telluride manufacturers responded and scored in the mid-range: First Solar in Arizona received a score of 67 and Colorado-based startup Abound received a 63."

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"What really needs to occur to drive a recycling culture is the adoption of a takeback program by every solar module manufacturer. Firms can go it alone like First Solar [with its highly responsible 100 percent takeback program bonded by Swiss Re in the event that First Solar is not around in 20 to 30 years] or they can get together, as in the PV Cycle Association, which is developing a voluntary solar panel recycling program in Europe…SVTC is calling for mandatory takeback and responsible recycling by solar companies as a step toward reducing the solar industry’s environmental footprint. Larger institutional customers and city or school districts can drive this process by insisting that there be takeback programs as well…

"The SVTC got started more than 25 years ago in response to water contamination caused by the semiconductor industry. Their focus has been on electronics, but the rapid growth of the solar PV industry has spurred them into getting an early start on working with the solar panel manufacturers, and to avoid the late start that the semiconductor industry had…"